


affectionate gestures and when to show them

by wartransmission



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-10 06:27:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wartransmission/pseuds/wartransmission
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto Tachibana loves a lot of things. Nagisa takes that to mean that Makoto has a large heart fit for a large body, but Rei thinks that's an anatomical impossibility. </p><p>Haru just wishes that Makoto would stop with his lame jokes, though he has a feeling that Makoto doesn't even mean them as jokes in the first place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	affectionate gestures and when to show them

Makoto Tachibana loves a lot of things. Nagisa says that it's only apt, because such a large body should be able to house a big heart too- though Rei did explain that it didn't work like that. Makoto hadn't the right thought-processing speed to comprehend everything Rei said as he went into detail about the human body and the appropriate size for each internal organ, so all he could do when Rei turned to him was smile nervously and nod to let him know that he did, in fact, listen. (Still, Makoto at least knew that loving something didn't have anything to do with the size of his heart. He's not so sure if Nagisa meant it literally, though.)

Nonetheless, it remains that Makoto does love a lot of things. Be it that they're small things like chocolate or green curry, or big things like his family and Haru, he loves them all in equal measure. Though, of course, he loves his family a little more than most others. Haru too. Loving food isn't exactly comparable to loving people, after all.

There's one thing that Makoto really loves out of a lot of things, though, and it's not something he can tell anyone like how he can tell people that he loves kittens. It's not that the thing he likes is something bad, nor is it something weird. It's something pretty normal when thinking about one's friends, though Haru would probably give him a weird look and say that he's saying something embarrassing again. It is a bit embarrassing considering how he's not a kid who still needs to cling to Haru anymore, but even so. It wasn't wrong to love something that meant his friend would be happy too, was it?

He couldn't help it, after all. He loves seeing Haru smile, he always has, but he's never told Haru that. He's certain that Haru doesn't know either, no matter the fact that he knows Makoto best. If he did, then Haru wouldn't let him see his smile as often, would he? If Haru knew, Makoto is sure, Haru would turn away from him because he'd think that Makoto loving his smile was weird. It's why he settles for discreet glances Haru's way, never once letting Haru know that he's looking at him and his rare smiles.

It's what makes Haru's smiles even more precious, really, the fact that he doesn't smile all the time like Makoto does. He only ever smiles whenever he feels especially happy and satisfied; seeing those smiles at all, which is made easier by how close Makoto is to Haru, is like having all of his troubles fade away until all he's left with is a light giddy feeling. That giddy feeling lessened as time passed and Haru smiled more, of course, but that didn't change how Haru's smiles always made Makoto feel at ease. Although, to be certain, there were times when even Makoto couldn't help from feeling exasperated at seeing Haru's smiles caused by buying swimsuits that always looked the same as the jammers he already owned.

Something is different now, though. The frequency of Haru's smile these days is odd, like the thing that's been keeping him from showing his feelings has finally gone away and left him free to smile despite how difficult it always seemed to him before. Makoto is happy about the development, extremely so, but it did bring up a lot of questions in his mind. Has Haru been hiding these smiles for so long, or did something good happen recently? Had he found another thing he was fascinated with that Makoto didn't know about yet? Or was it just because things were finally going well with Rin?

Ah, but those were stupid things to worry about, weren't they? Stupid, selfish things, things Makoto shouldn't even be thinking at all. He should be glad that Haru's slowly growing into happiness- as Haru ought to be after everything that's happened- instead of wallowing in his childish feelings of befuddlement at not knowing what Haru's thinking for once.

"Mako-chan, are you okay?" Nagisa's voice calls out to him, derailing him from his thoughts as he turns to Nagisa with a surprised blink. Nagisa is smiling amusedly at him when Makoto looks over, and he smiles sheepishly out of embarrassment. He'd been caught daydreaming, huh? "What were you thinking about?" Nagisa asks as he pulls himself out of the pool.

"Just," Makoto begins, scratching at his cheek with a finger out of habit, "I was thinking about how nice everyone's smile is."

"Ohh?" Nagisa grins, slapping a hand on Makoto's arm. "Have you been caught by my charm, Mako-chan? Have you?"

Makoto laughs at that, carefully avoiding Nagisa's elbow when he tries to nudge him with it. He's not that ticklish, really, but he'd rather not embarrass himself if Nagisa happens to hit a sensitive spot. "Your smile is pretty charming," he admits with a smile. He blinks in surprise when Nagisa crows at the admission, raising a brow when Nagisa tries to call out to Rei. "You shouldn't bother him while he's training, Nagisa," he says with an exasperated but affectionate sigh.

"I need to tell Rei-chan about my achievement, Mako-chan! It's a must!" Nagisa huffs, though he does so with a grin.

"Really," Rei groans when he finally reaches the end of the pool where Nagisa and Makoto are at. He climbs out of the pool with ease, raising his googles to the top of his head as he sets his glasses in their stead. Looking mildly annoyed at having been bothered while he was practicing his butterfly stroke, he asks, "What is it this time, Nagisa-kun?"

"Mako-chan said that my smile is charming!" Nagisa exclaims with a grin as he sets both of his hands on his hips. Rei blinks in confusion, apparently not having expected those words from Nagisa. Proudly, Nagisa asks, "What do you have to say to that, Rei-chan?"

"I," Rei trails off, pushing his glasses a little higher on the bridge of his nose until his eyes are left unseen because of the sun's glare reflecting on his glasses, "I guess I can agree with Makoto-senpai." He's blushing from what Makoto can see, and his toes are wiggling nervously when Makoto looks down. His embarrassment is further worsened when Nagisa "ooh"s in surprise and starts to excitedly chatter at him, his hands reaching out to grip Rei's own.

"Hey, are you three slacking off?" Gou calls out, making the trio freeze in place before slowly turning to her with sheepish smiles. "Geez, you guys," Gou huffs, her arms folded over her chest as she walks over to them. She shakes her head and they laughs nervously, with the exception of Nagisa who immediately gasps in surprise when he notices the plastic bag Gou is holding onto.

"Gou-chan, did you really buy us ice cream?" Nagisa says, his eyes widening in child-like wonder as he carelessly invades her space. Gou rolls her eyes, muttering "I said it was Kou" under her breath, though she ends up smiling amusedly when Nagisa keeps on pestering her. "Come on, Gou-chan! I want my ice cream!"

"You are such a glutton, Nagisa-kun," she says with a sigh, before unfolding her arms to open the plastic bag. She hands over the waffle ice cream to Nagisa, the strawberry-flavored popsicle to Rei, before apologetically handing over a twin popsicle to Makoto. "I'm sorry, Makoto-senpai," Gou apologizes with a brief bow of her head, "I didn't know what to buy Haruka-senpai, so..."

"Oh, it's fine!" He says with a smile, waving a dismissive hand at her worry, "Haru and I always share anyway, so this is good." His smile softens when she sighs in relief, her own smile a cute one as she pulls out her watermelon-flavored popsicle. "Thank you very much for buying us ice cream, Kou-chan," he says, to which she offers another bright smile as a response.

"It's really nothing," Gou says, her gaze wandering to the space behind him. She laughs, before discreetly gesturing to the pool behind him. "It seems Haruka-senpai is waiting for you, Makoto-senpai."

He looks behind him at those words, and he laughs when he notices how only half of Haru's head is visible as he remains by the end of the pool. "It would seem so, Kou-chan. Would you like to join us?" He asks, to which Gou shakes her head in answer.

"I've already promised to eat with Chigusa-chan, so I can't," she answers with a sheepish smile. "Thank you for offering, though!" She adds with a smile.

"It's no problem," Makoto says with a little laugh. "We'll be seeing you once we're done, then?"

"Maybe I'll come around earlier with Chigusa-chan, though I can't be sure," Gou answers with a light shrug. "Anyway, I'll be seeing you guys later. Don't slack off, alright buchou?" She says with firmness, making Makoto reply with a nervous "y-yes!" She giggles at the reply, knowing well enough that Makoto would definitely make sure everyone trained well, before waving her goodbye to him as she headed off.

Makoto sighs when she's finally out of sight, before jogging over to Haru's side of the pool. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Haru," he says sheepishly, an embarrassed smile on his face as he holds out a hand to Haru.

"It's fine." Haru says, though he does so with a raised brow. He takes Makoto's hand, letting himself be pulled out of the pool, before shaking his head to keep away the water dripping from the tips of his hair. Their hands linger in each other's grasp before Makoto pulls away, earning a small amused smile from Haru as Makoto turns his attention to the popsicle in his other hand.

"Here, Haru," Makoto says once he's done splitting the popsicle, smiling when Haru gratefully accepts it. They settle themselves on the edge of the pool, feet soaking in the cool water as they start to lick on the cold treat. Nagisa and Rei are on the right side of the pool when Makoto looks for them, Rei leaning over a little too much to the left as he tries to keep Nagisa away from his ice cream. Makoto says with an amused smile, "Really, if Nagisa likes strawberry ice cream, then he should just say so."

"He'd rather it was free," Haru comments, earning a small laugh from Makoto.

"That's true," Makoto says, hiding a smile as he bites on his own popsicle. The silence between the two of them is a bit unusual in itself considering how Makoto would usually fill it up with stories or commentaries on the occurrences around them, though it's comfortable in its own way. Yet in the end, Makoto can't resist from giving a little comment in answer to one of Haru's passing thoughts, which he could read from the discreet glance Haru sends his way. "We were talking about Nagisa's smile just a while ago, if you were curious," Makoto says, looking away from Haru as he takes another bite from his popsicle. "Rei agreed with me that it was charming."

"It's a devious smile too," Haru adds. Makoto nods, stifling a giggle as he licks at the liquid dripping from his popsicle.

"Rei's smile is gentle, so it has its own charm," Makoto muses, careful not to bite on his popsicle with his sensitive teeth. "Kou-chan's smiles are pretty cute too, just like her brother's. Though I guess Rin smiles less and grins more?" He shrugs at his own thoughts before continuing to bite small pieces off his popsicle.

There's silence again, which isn't surprising. It's not as if Haru will always have something to say in response to Makoto's words. In any case, Makoto is used to conversing one-sidedly when it's with Haru, so it's fine with him. It's why he's surprised when, after a few minutes of eating, Haru says, "What about mine?"

"Yours?" Makoto asks, blinking in surprise, though he eventually settles on a soft smile when Haru turns to look at him. He teases, "It's hard to tell when Haru doesn't smile much, isn't it? Maybe you should smile again so I can say something about it."

"Idiot," Haru says, sounding a lot more like he's playing along instead of being annoyed. He turns his gaze away from Makoto, before smiling a soft smile in the pool's direction.

"Haru's smile is beautiful," Makoto ends up saying. Haru raises an eyebrow at him when he says as much, and Makoto smiles sheepishly. "It's like Haru's swimming, I guess? I think it's really nice to look at." He takes another bite off his popsicle before saying, "Haru should smile more."

"You already smile enough for the both of us," Haru says with a shake of his head. "People will think something's wrong if I suddenly started smiling a lot."

Makoto laughs at the idea, though he can't help from agreeing. Nagisa would always comment on it, wouldn't he? "I suppose that's true," he says. Although, he does think it'd be nice if he could see Haru's smile more often. He wasn't joking when he said that it was beautiful, after all.

"You would like it if I smiled for you more often, wouldn't you?" Haru says after a beat, making Makoto sputter in surprise. He'd forgotten that Haru knew him just as well as Makoto did him, so he didn't think to hide his thoughts from showing on his face. Then again, Haru would have known without having to look at him, wouldn't he? Haru had always known just what he was thinking, but he'd always pretended that he didn't know anything. (It certainly explained why Makoto often forgot that Haru knew him well.)

"M-maybe," Makoto admits, feet swinging gently in the water. If Haru openly spoke about it, then maybe he was fine with it? "I did say that Haru's smile was nice to look at."

"I thought you only said things like that to girls?" Haru asks, making Makoto turn a light pink in embarrassment as he remembers his own words to Rei when he first commented on Makoto's smile. He hadn't considered that he'd be the one to say such similar things to Haru, so how could he have known that his previous beliefs would backfire on him? Besides, he had only said that because it was embarrassing for him. And yet, Haru doesn't look embarrassed at all, does he?

"Well, yes," Makoto mumbles, lowering his gaze as he takes another bite from his popsicle. "But that's because my smile isn't really beautiful."

"And mine is?" Haru says with a brow raised in question. "How is it any different?"

"It just is, Haru," Makoto whines, not wanting to further worsen his embarrassment with any more of Haru's questions. "Like I said, it's like your swimming! I don't look as beautiful as you do when I do it."

"Have you ever seen yourself swimming that you can judge yourself like that?" Haru asks.

"No, but still," Makoto insists, looking straight at Haru with a determined gaze. "It's really not the same, Haru. It just isn't! I'm too tall, too big, and swimming...it just doesn't come as naturally to me as it does with you." Makoto sighs, a little too tired to argue as he bites off the remaining piece from his popsicle.

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that," Haru says, his words completely serious yet his smile an amused one as he regards Makoto. He finishes off his popsicle right after Makoto, letting Makoto take the stick before putting it into the plastic with his own.

"I only said those things because Haru was being annoying," Makoto huffs, shaking his head as he stands up and takes the trash with him. He doesn't take long, considering how the trash can is just inside the locker room, though apparently it's enough time for Haru to get tired of sitting with just his feet in the water. Still, he's floating in the water with his back pressed into the wall instead of actually swimming, so that's another surprise for Makoto. "Tired, Haru?" He asks, crouching in the space he'd previously occupied so Haru can glance at him from the side.

"No," Haru says. He doesn't say much else and Makoto almost resigns himself to the silence, until Haru asks, "Do you really want me to smile more?"

"Hm?" Makoto blinks, processing the odd question, though he does eventually offer a nod and a smile in answer. "That would be nice, I think. Though you shouldn't force yourself to do it if you don't feel like it, Haru."

"Then, would Makoto pay anything so I'll do it?" Haru says, ignoring Makoto's last statement as he turns to face him fully.

Makoto frowns at the thought, almost making a comment on how he doesn't want to force Haru, until he looks up and notices how Haru is smirking at him. Ah. It would seem he's being played with, wouldn't it? Makoto sighs wearily, though he plays along anyway. He says, "That depends on what Haru would put as a price."

"Ingredients for mackerel soup," Haru answers immediately. Makoto takes a minute to digest those words before he bursts into laughter, an arm wrapping around his waist as he kneels fully onto the floor.

"Th-then, Haru," Makoto manages to choke out, his other hand being used to wipe away the tears brimming in his eyes, "would love be okay as payment?"

"I only accept material objects as payment," Haru quickly answers, having somehow expected that Makoto would say as much. Ah, but then, Makoto had said it just the day before when Nagisa and the others came over to eat and Haru had wondered what the missing ingredient was. (Makoto had said that it was love, to which Haru had replied that there would be no dinner for him. Really, Haru was no fun sometimes.)

"Then, this?" Makoto asks, making Haru look over in confusion as to what "this" was. He figures it out when Makoto leans over to press a kiss onto the top of his head, which is an affectionate gesture Makoto often gives Ran and Ren, and he sends a weak glare Makoto's way before ducking back down into the water. Bubbles form on the water's surface just by Haru's mouth and Makoto laughs, covering his own mouth with his hand even though he knows that it's a futile effort.

"No PDA, you two!" Nagisa yells from the other side of the pool, an embarrassed Rei keeping him from falling over into the pool as he waves both of his hands to grab their attention. "Really! Even Rei-chan won't allow me to do a lot of stuff and you're just doing it without caring about my feelings! That's so mean, Mako-chan, Haru-chan!"

"Please don't say those sorts of things, Nagisa-kun!" Rei hisses in turn, though it's loud enough that even Makoto can hear it. He stifles his own embarrassment at having been caught by Nagisa with a small laugh, though even that fades into silence when he notices that Haru has already gone to start swimming again. He sighs, watching Haru almost reach the other end of the pool, before standing up and clapping his hands to grab Nagisa and Rei's attention.

"You two should start training if you're done with your food," he says just as Nagisa looks over, an amused smile painting itself on his face when he notices how Nagisa is almost draped all over Rei. "And you really shouldn't push Rei around like that, Nagisa."

"I'm not pushing him around!" Nagisa yells adamantly, before ruffling Rei's hair and hopping to his feet away from him. Rei makes an indignant sound at the hair-ruffling and makes to chase after Nagisa, but that's a failed attempt when Nagisa immediately jumps into the pool.

"Try again next time, Rei," Makoto says with an amused smile when he notices Rei grumbling to himself in embarrassed annoyance. Rei blushes at having been noticed, though he firmly nods in response. "Is it okay if you time him for now? Or would you like to change places with me?"

"I'm fine with timing Nagisa-kun, Makoto-senpai," Rei assures him, his smile a gentle one as always as he accepts the timer that had been hanging around Makoto's neck. "We're sorry for bothering you two," he mumbles, looking a little awkward as he shifts his weight from one foot to another.

"You weren't bothering anything," Makoto insists, hiding his embarrassment with a smile. "So there's no need to apologize, Rei."

"Still," Rei ducks his head, before shaking it as he looks up at Makoto again. "I'll be going, then!" He exclaims, looking a little stiff as he grips the timer in his hand.

"Alright," Makoto says with a worried smile, waving a hand to Rei as he jogs over to Nagisa's side of the pool. Is he really okay? Makoto thinks to himself as he watches Rei lightly berating Nagisa once he's done with one lap. He looks a little flustered, though perhaps...it's because he'd seen something embarrassing from Makoto and Haru? Makoto groans at the thought of it. What kind of respectable upperclassmen were they?

"Stop worrying over stupid things, Makoto," Haru says, jolting Makoto out of his thoughts. He's already done with one lap when Makoto turns to look down at him, his countenance back to its unruffled state as he gives Makoto a blank look.

"It's not stupid," Makoto mumbles, before holding out a hand for Haru.

"I wasn't the one who kissed me," Haru says with a quirked brow as he takes Makoto's hand. Makoto groans at the reminder but helps Haru out of the pool anyway, his embarrassment not quite enough of a reason to just up and leave Haru alone. Besides, he'd be the one feeling bad if he left Haru on his own, so it wouldn't do any good for him to retaliate childishly.

"Be quiet already," Makoto grumbles, gaze turned away as Haru gets to his feet. He loosens his grip on Haru's hand, ready to let him go, though Haru doesn't seem to understand that when he squeezes Makoto's hand in his. "Haru," he begins, ready to ask him what he's waiting for, though he's cut off when he feels lips pressing against his own. He makes a surprised sound at the intimate gesture and immediately pulls away, automatically turning to look at Rei to check if he'd seen it. While Rei isn't openly looking at them, Makoto can still see how stiff he is compared to earlier. He's blushing a bit too, which Makoto can guess is because of his own embarrassment at having accidentally caught his two upperclassmen doing something weird again. Makoto muffles a groan of mortification with both of his hands when he realizes the extent of what Rei had seen. _Why did it keep happening?_

"I said that I'd only take material objects," Haru says, not at all caring for Makoto's current problem. It was embarrassing, even if he wasn't the one who initiated it this time! Why didn't Haru care?

"I know, Haru," Makoto sighs wearily, moving his hands away from his face so he can rub the fingers of his right hand against his temple. There wasn't anything he could do about it now, considering how the deed was already done. In a way, it was his fault since he started the whole thing. Even Nagisa had seen it. "Sorry about...what I did earlier," he says with a sheepish smile, aware that Haru had only kissed him to get back at him.

"Don't do it if you plan on apologizing later," Haru says, before shaking his head to keep the water droplets from his face.

"I know-"

"You don't," Haru sighs, looking oddly annoyed as he turns away from Makoto to step onto the starting block. "Don't do it if you plan on apologizing in the end, Makoto," he repeats, placing emphasis on his first word as he takes a glance at him.

_It was fine._

Makoto flushes pink at that, not being able to help it when a smile starts to show on his face. "I get it, Haru."

"Good." Haru nods in satisfaction, before getting into his starting position. Makoto smiles at Haru's nonchalance with his own confession, despite how embarrassed he honestly is with it (which Makoto can tell from his pink-tipped ears). He calls a "ready, set, go!" for Haru when he makes an impatient sound, immediately clicking down on his timer just as Haru dives into the water.

There isn't much of a difference between the two of them when it came to affectionate gestures, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I have reached it. I have reached my lowest point. I just do not know how to write anymore. I apologize for the low quality writing. If you liked it anyway, thank you very much! I'll post the link to the entry later, so please be on the look out for that. Thank you again for reading this! <3
> 
> [http://makoharufestival.tumblr.com/post/74823421820/](http://makoharufestival.tumblr.com/post/74823421820/challenge-that-smile-user-jadedgalvanizer) Here's the link to the festival post! If you liked this fic, or if you want to support me in the fest, I'd greatly appreciate it if you liked and/or reblogged the post I linked. Again, thank you very much! uwu


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